Ghosted

GHOSTED

The pumpkin wasn’t orange. Tess wasn’t a pumpkin expert, but she was pretty sure they weren’t normally an iridescent shade of gray.

“People say it’s haunted.” Startled, Tess turned to see another girl standing beside her, motioning down the lane. Directing her gaze beyond the pumpkin nestled against a rotting mailbox post, she followed the girl’s pointed finger down the rutted lane to an old house fighting a losing battle with vines.

“Hello to you too.” Tess tilted her head toward the overgrown house. “Do you live there?”

The girl smiled and pushed slightly tangled strands of long blond hair out of her eyes.

“No one lives there now. Don’t get along with the ghosts.”

Tess rolled her eyes and looked back at the pumpkin.

“Why isn’t it orange?”

“What, the pumpkin? Legend says it only turns orange when someone becomes a ghost.” The girl laughed. “Probably just moldy.”

Gravel and dead leaves crunched beneath her feet as Tess started moving down the lane, drawn toward the mysterious beauty of the house. The girl followed.

“I haven’t seen you around before.” It wasn’t exactly a question, but Tess shook her head.

“Moved here yesterday. Little blue house down the road.”

“I know the one. You like it here?”

Tess hesitated. No point in lying.

“No.”

“It’ll get better. You’ll make friends and have a lot of fun when you start school.”

“It’s not that simple.”

“Wanna elaborate?”

“No.”

“Cool.”

They reached the porch, a small platform little more than a pallet perched precariously against the house, a mess of cobwebs clinging to the railing. Tess plopped down on the top step, cupping her face in her hands. The girl hopped up beside her, their knees and shoulders touching.

“By the way, I’m Bria.”

“Tess.”

“Sometimes I like to come out here and pretend that this is my house. Y’know, like I could live here by myself and shut everything else out. I started when I was little and… I guess old habits die hard.” Bria sighed and swatted at a golden moth that landed on her dirty converse.

“It’s nice.” Tess felt Bria’s eyes on her but avoided them, very aware of how deep and green and perfect they were.

“Anyway, our school’s not all bad,” Bria chattered on, her pale skin turning pinkish with the chill of an October evening.

Tess raised her overly plucked eyebrows and Bria laughed, a faint tinkling sound that echoed through the bare trees surrounding them. “Okay, well, it mostly sucks, but there’s some nice people. You’ll fit in. Probably a lot better than I did.”

Tess stole a glance at the finely structured profile beside her, but Bria was now staring off into a different place, one that Tess couldn’t see.

“It wouldn’t matter.”

“What?” Bria turned toward Tess.

“We’ll just move in a couple of months anyway. We always do. No point in making friends or…or getting a pet or anything.”

“What kind of pet would you want to get?”

“A cat. I’d name it Pancake and we could be best friends.” Tess shook her head. “I don’t even like cats.”

“What if we could be best friends?”

“Really?” Tess swallowed hard. “Like real friends? I didn’t know you could just…”

“Yes, really!” Bria jumped up. “We can have sleepovers and eat horrible food and talk about boys and…!”

“Boys?” Tess scrunched her nose.

“Yeah, you like boys, right?” Bria’s eyes stared deep into hers, right into her soul. Tess tore her eyes away.

“Yeah, of course. I mean, they suck but…yeah, I…they’re…uh…hot, I guess.”

Bria laughed.

“You’re cute when you lie.”

The sun was turning everything to a brilliant golden color, hiding the bright-red flush spreading over Tess’s face. She stood up slowly.

“I need to go. Mom said I had to be there for supper.”

“But we haven’t even gone inside yet,” Bria protested. “Come on, just a peek.”

Tess hesitated. The house loomed dark behind them. A shiver crept down Tess’s spine, but even exploring a creepy house sounded better than going back to her own unsettled one. They slipped through the front door and into a room empty except for draping sheets that looked more like ghouls than furniture covers.

A sudden coldness washed over Tess, like ice water on her soul, seeping into her veins and pulsing through her body. A scream pushed its way out of her throat but ended in a whisper.

“Bria?” The word echoed around the house until it came back to her, sounding like an evil laugh.

Silence greeted her; the room now conspicuously empty where Bria had been only seconds before.

“Bria!” She ran to the next room, but again was the only one there.

“Br…!” A ghostly figure appeared in the doorway, illuminated by faint rosy light streaming through a cracked window.

“Welcome to my home, bestie,” Bria said, her voice wispy and hollow, a smile twisting her translucent features. “We’re gonna have so much fun!”

Tess screamed and bolted to the door, her heart pounding in her ears, drowning out Bria’s words. She couldn’t grasp the knob. As if her hand weren’t quite solid. As if…icy shoots of terror pierced her as she flung herself at the window and peered down the lane. In the last light of day, she saw it. The pumpkin was orange.